Following restaurateur Randy Rayburn’s passing this summer, Craig Clifft — who worked with Rayburn for decades — has taken over ownership of the Midtown Cafe alongside Rayburn’s sons.
Clifft has been in the restaurant business in Nashville for a long time. He was an owner at Cabana and has worked at Sunset Grill, Midtown Cafe and Elliston Place Soda Shop. Many of these projects he did with Rayburn.
Clifft told the Nashville Business Journal he hopes to honor Rayburn’s legacy and keep most things around the cafe the same as they were under Rayburn’s ownership.
“He passes away on a Thursday and I walked in here on a Friday and said, ‘Nothing changes. You guys know exactly what you’re doing, I’m not doing anything different,’” Clifft told the Nashville Business Journal. “To me that would be one of the biggest mistakes is to go in here and start changing things.”
Amid growing competition and an uptick in the closure of longstanding restaurants, Clifft aims to focus on building up a loyal customer base. Despite Rayburn’s passing, Clifft hopes to maintain Midtown Cafe’s legacy and ensure it becomes a staple in the Nashville community.
Midtown Cafe serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and it serves a weekend brunch. Highlights of the menu include Southern breakfast staples and seafood entrees.
“We are here, we are not changing. We are still the Midtown Cafe that you know and the Midtown Cafe that you love. We have no plans and no need to close the doors of this restaurant,” Clifft told the Business Journal.
